- Full name – Olena Yuriivna Kravets
- Date of birth – January 1, 1977
- City – Kryvyi Rih (Ukraine)
- Activity – actress, comedian, TV and radio host, film producer
Olena Kravets is a Ukrainian comic actress, producer, TV host, film actress. Bright charisma, undeniable acting talent, sense of stage and audience made Olena a star of the humor industry and a favorite of millions. Today, the actress is one of the most influential personalities of Ukrainian show business and at the same time a symbol of femininity and gentle strength.
Becoming an artist
Olena Kravets was born in Kryvyi Rih, in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Her father worked in the metallurgical sector and was a gentle and sincere person – it was he who formed her daughter’s bright perception of the world. Her mother, a bank economist, instilled in Elena a sense of style and good taste, which later manifested itself not only in life, but also in the artist’s stage images.
Since childhood, Elena was extremely artistic: she sang, danced, participated in school performances and dreamed of a big stage. Her passion for theater gradually grew into the first attempts at self-realization. While still at school, the girl staged her own production, which became a kind of debut in the world of creativity. Despite this, after graduating from school, her mother’s pragmatic arguments prevailed – and the future star entered the Krivoy Rog Institute of Economics, choosing the specialty “finance and credit”.
But already in her second year, Olena Malyashenko took part in the “Student Spring” festival, which combined music, performances and her first creative experiments. At the same time, the student played in the KVK as part of the “Zaporizhzhia – Kryvyi Rih – Transit” team, where she met the future team of “Quarter 95”.
Creative path
During her studies and after receiving her diploma, Olena managed to try herself in various professions – she worked as a radio presenter, an accountant at a bank, a cashier and even headed a McDonald’s branch in Kryvyi Rih.
In 1998, Kravets joined “Quarter 95”, which then still existed as a KVK team, and in 2000 she moved to Kyiv, where she became the administrative director of the studio. With the launch of “Evening Quarter” in 2005, Olena’s popularity grew rapidly – she became a permanent actress of the show and one of the most recognizable artists in the Ukrainian humor industry.
In 2019, Olena Kravets took part in the show “Dancing with the Stars” on the 1+1 TV channel, revealing new facets of her charisma to the audience. She was also the host of the “Your Day” project, worked on the voice acting of cartoons and co-produced the documentary “Legend. Lyudmila Gurchenko”.
After the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022, the actress temporarily evacuated with her children, but later returned to Kyiv. In the same year, the star made the difficult decision to leave “Quarter 95” after 25 years of work. According to her, this was a necessary step for personal development, because internally Kravets moved away from entertainment content and began to look for new meanings in creativity.
The most famous projects with the participation of Olena Kravets and author's formats:
- "Evening Quarter", where the central image of the actress was Ukrainian politician Yulia Tymoshenko;
- "Servant of the People" - Olena Kravets starred in three seasons of the television series;
- "Laughter League", where the comedian occupied the position of coach;
- "Women's Quarter" - a separate project, the female version of "Evening Quarter";
- the podcast "Let's Talk at Home", which Olena hosts on YouTube together with her daughter Maria;
- the show "Let's Read at Home" - a project that involves a video and audio format. There, Olena Kravets reads children's literature with her younger children Ivan and Kateryna;
- the talk show "Quiet Evening with Olena Kravets" is an evening show where the actress acted as a host and co-author;
- the one-man show "Can I Just Sit?", where Kravets broadcasts the thoughts and inner states of five heroines who are overcoming a long path of rethinking.
Acting Style and Stage Images
Olena Kravets is one of the key figures of Ukrainian show business, whose style combines subtle satire, actress talent, elements of improvisation and deep emotionality. Her stage images have long become part of modern culture, and her parodies of Yulia Tymoshenko have gained special recognition - even the politician herself noted their accuracy and wit.
Among other vivid transformations are the images of Nadiya Savchenko, Natalia Korolevskaya, Elena Malysheva and Ulyana Suprun. In each of them, the actress demonstrated not only humor, but also an accurate sense of character.
Every time surprising fans of the project, Elena Kravets repeatedly changed stage images in the show "League of Laughter" - from the bright "queen of Troyeshchyna" to the elegant sister of the founders of Kyiv Lybeda.
Filmography:
- «Like Cossacks…» (2009) (musical) – Marta, maid of honor;
- «The Miracle» (2009) – Natasha;
- «1+1 at Home» (2014) – Roza Markivna;
- «1+1 at Home: March 8» (2014) – Roza Markivna;
- «Servant of the People» (2015) – Olga Yuriivna Mishchenkoo;
- «I, you, he, she» (2018) – Neighbor.
Voicing and dubbing:
- «Fairytale Russia» (2012) – Baba Natasha;
- «Turbo» (2013) – Burn, snail girl;
- «Posipaki» (2015) – Scarlet Protyvsikh;
- «Angry Birds in the cinema» (2016) – Matilda;
- «Angry Birds in the cinema 2» (2019) – Matilda;
- «Mavka. Forest song» (2023) – Kylyna.
Social activity
A significant part of Elena Kravets's activities is devoted to charity and cultural initiatives. In 2014, the star participated in the creation of the “Shchyri” calendar, which popularized the Ukrainian national costume and helped raise funds for wounded soldiers. In 2016, she supported the UAnimals initiative, speaking out against the exploitation of animals in circuses.
The actress actively collaborates with charitable foundations, in particular, supports “Tabletochki”. And after 2022, she participated in numerous gatherings for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. At the same time, her work intersects with the music industry: Kravets participated in the creation of the rap musical “You (Romance)” by the MUR group, where she voiced one of the roles.
Alena also appeared in the video clip of Pianoboy and Alina Pash for the song “First Lady”, where she embodied a dramatic image. In addition, Kravets joined a charity tour of Europe together with Jerry Heil, Sergey Babkin, DZIDZIO and other artists.
Interesting facts about Olena Kravets:
- the star's maiden name is Malyashenko;
- the comedian was one of the few women in the KVN who achieved such a high level of popularity and recognition;
- in 2010, Olena Kravets was included in the list of the most beautiful women in Ukraine according to Viva! magazine;
- today, the actress is developing her own projects - working on a course on voice technique, hosting podcasts on YouTube, acting in plays, discovering new formats of communication with the audience.
